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http://www.archive.org/details/foresthymnOObryarich 


J 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  I860,  by 

W.    A.    TOWNS  END    AND   COMPANY. 

In  tin-  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


C.     A.     ALVOKD,     IT.INTKIi. 


I  GCftfff  i^  wiltf  wool 
I  I 


V  r 


I  *C    groves   were    God's    first    tem- 
ples.     Eire    man    learner! 
To  hew  the  shaft,  and  lay  the  architrave, 

And    spread    the    roof    above    them, — ere 
he  framed 

The    lofty  vault,  to  gather  and  roll  back 

The    sound  of  anthems:     in    the    darkling 

wood. 
Amidst    the    cool    and    silence,    he    knelt 

down, 
And    offered     to     the     Mightiest     solemn 

thanks 


And  supplication.     For  his  simple  heart 
Might  not  resist  the  sacred  influences. 
Which,  from  the  stilly  twilight  of  the  place, 


Stole  over  him,  and 

bowed 
His    spirit    with   the   thought    of 

boundless  power 
And  inaccessible  majesty.     Ah, 

why 
Should  we,  in    the  world's    riper 

years,  neglect 
God's    ancient    sanctuaries,    and 

adore 


Only  among  the  crowd,  and  under  roofs 
That  our  frail  hands  have  raised? 


me,  at  least, 
Here,  in  the  shadow  of  this  aired  wood, 
Otter  one  hymn — thrice  happy,  if  it  rind 
Acceptance  in  His  ear. 


Father,   thy  hand 

Hath  reared  these  venerable  columns,  thou 

Didst  weave  this  verdant  roof. 
10 


Upon  the  naked  earth,  and,  forthwith,  rose 

All  these  fair  ranks  of  trees.     They,  in  thy  sun. 

Budded,  and  shook  their  green  leaves  in  the  breeze, 

And  shot  towards  heaven. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LitWvto 


£  century -living   crow, 
Whose     birth     was    in    tlieir     tops, 

grew  old  and  died 
Among   their   branches,  till,  at  last, 

they  stood, 
As     now    they    stand,    massy,    and 

tall,  and  dark, 
Fit    shrine    for    humble    worshipper 

to  hold 
Communion  with  his  Maker. 


These  dim  vaults, 


These  winding  aisles, 


13 


f  human  pomp  or  pride 
Report  not.     No  fantastic  carvings  show 
The  boast  of  our  vain  race   to   change   the 


B 


Kit  thou  art  here — thou  fill'st 
The  solitude.     Thou  art  in  the  soft  winds 
That  run  along  the  summit  of  these  trees 
In  musie ;    thou  art  in  the  cooler  breath 
That  from  the  inmost  darkness  of  the  place 
Comes,  scarcely  felt ; 


jy«n««M^ 


If    barky  trunks,  the  ground, 


T he   f r e s h    moist 


ground, 


Are  all 


instinci 


With  thee. 


^|V    is  continual  worship ; — nature,  bere, 


In  the  tranquillity  that  thou  dost  love, 


Enjoys  thy  presence. 


11 


'  jP^J i^eWj ,  around, 

From  perch  to  perch,  the  solitary  bird 


Passes:    and  yon  clear  spring,  that,  midst  its  herbs. 


Wells  softly  forth  and  wandering  steeps  the  roots 


S1  half  the   mighty   forest,    tells   no   tale 


Of  all   the   good   it 


Thou  hast  not  left 
Thyself  without  a  witness,  in  these  shades, 
Ot  thy  perfections. 


^ 


ace 


randeUi;    strength,  and  grac 
Are  here  to  speak  of  thee!      This  mighty  oak- 
Bv  whose  immovable  stem  I  stand  and  seem 
Almost  annihilated — not  a  prince, 
In  all  that  proud  old  world  beyond  the  deep, 
E'er  wore  his  crown  as  loftily  as  lie 
Wears  the  green  coronal  of  leaves  with  which 
Thv  hand  has  graced  him. 


vm^r".  cZr- 


■n  ' 


at    his  root 

Is   beauty,   such  as  blooms  not  in  the  glare 
Of  the  broad  sun.      That  delicate  forest   flower 
With  scented  breath,  and  look  so  like  a  smiie. 
Seems,  as  it   issues  from  the  shapeless  mould, 
An   emanation  of  the  indwelling  Life. 
A   visible  token  of  the  up- 
holding  Love. 
That    are    the    soul    of  this 
wide   universe. 


at  Ins  rool 

Is  beauty,  such  as  blooms  nor  in  the  glare 
Of  the  broad  sun.      That  delicate  forest  flower 
With  scented  breath,  and  look  so  like  a  smile, 
Seems,  as  it  issues  from  the  shapeless  mould, 
An   emanation  of  the  indwelling  Life, 
A  visible  token  of  the  up- 
holding Love, 
That    are    the    soul    of  this 
wide  universe. 


A/i 


vi    heart  is  awed  within  me  when  I  think 
Of  the    great   miracle   that 


still  goes  on, 
Ta  silence,  round  me— the  perpetual 

work 
Of  thy   creation,    finished,   yet   re- 
newed 
Forever.       Written    on   thy   works 

I  read 
The  lesson  of  thy  own  eternity. 


all    stow    old    tind 


die — but  see  again, 


I  Low    on    the    faltering    footsteps    of 


decay 


Voutli    [>resses — ever   gay  ;m<l    beau 


tiful   youtl 


fn  all  its  beautiful  forms 


IkSl    lofty  trees 

Wave  not  less  proudly  that  their  ancestors 
Moulder  beneath  them. 


1 

U    ,  there  is  not  lost 
One    of   earth's    charms :    upon    her 


bosom  yet, 


After     the    flight    of    untold     cen- 


turies, 


The  freshness  of  her  far   beginning 


lies 


And  vet  shall  lie. 


» 


A  itt. 

?<g.:  III     mocks  the  idle  hate 


( >f  his  aivli-tMK'iny   Death — yea,   seats  himself 


I'lKin   the  tyrant's  throne — the  sepulchre, 


And  of  the  triumphs  of  his  ghastly  foe 


Makes  his  own   nourishment.      For  he  came  forth 


From  thine  own  bosom,  and  shall  have  no  end. 


There  have  been  holy  men  who  hid  themselves 

Deep  in  the  woody  wilderness,  and  gave 

Their  lives  to  thought  and  prayer,  till  they  outlived 


generation  born  with  them,  nor 
seemed 
Less  aged  than  the  hoary  trees  and  rocks 
Around  them; — and  tl.eie  lave  been  holy  n.tn 
Who  deemed  it  were  not  well  to  pass  life  thus. 
But  let  me  often  to  these  solitudes 
Retire,  and  in   thy  presence  reassure 
My  feeble  virtue.     Here  its  enemies. 
The  passions,  at   thy  plainer  footsteps  shrink 
And  tremble  and  are  still.     Oh,  God!  when   thou 
D<>st  scare  the  world  with  tempests,  set  on  fire 
The  heavens   with   falling  thunderbolts,   or  till, 
With  all  the  waters  of  the  firmament, 


V  .>■ 


The  swift  durk  whirlwind  that  uproots  the  woods 
And  drowns  the  villages;    when,  at  thy  call, 
Uprises  the  great  deep,  and  throws  himself 
Upon  the  continent,  and  overwhelms 
Its  cities — 


30 


at  the  sight 
Of   these    tremen 

thy  power 
His    pride,  and 

and  follies 
Oh,    from    these 

Of  thy    lace 
Spare  me  and  mi 


let  us  need  the  wrath 
Of  the  mad   unchained  elements  to  teach 
Who  rules  them.      Be  it  ours  to  meditate, 
In  these  calm  shades,   thy  milder  majesty, 
And  to  the  beautiful  order  of  thy  works 
Learn  to  conform  the  order  of  our  lives. 


,  im 

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